His party loyalists say he is a necessary counterweight to the Maoists who are likely to lead the government and whose lower ranks are still engaged in acts of violence.

But Mr Koirala, a five-times prime minister, has plenty of critics, too, who say Nepalese politics is badly in need of some younger blood.

'Unfit for office'

The former Maoist rebels have accused Mr Koirala of clinging to his post after his Nepali Congress Party came a poor second in the April elections. They say the 84-year-old prime minister is unfit for office.

The political instability in Nepal has been exacerbated by constitutional changes pushed through in December which did not clarify how power would be divided between the president and prime minister once the new constituent assembly had abolished the monarchy.

In recent weeks it was finally agreed that the president would be largely ceremonial but would also be commander-in-chief of the army.

The Nepali Congress and the Maoists agreed this week that the candidates for president and prime minister would be decided by a vote in the assembly. That process still has to be agreed by other parties in parliament.

Mr Koirala was appointed prime minister in April 2006 when King Gyanendra was forced to abandon absolute rule in the face of weeks of growing street protests.

Later that year the Maoists, who had been fighting for a communist republic, declared an end to their insurgency. They joined the interim government in 2007.

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